5th generation (5G) mobile communication networks and wireless systems denote the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G standards. Expected features of 5G networks include the capability of supporting very large numbers, e.g., billions, of wireless “peer” devices including smartphones, machine-to-machine (M2M) devices, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, sensors, etc. As used herein, peer devices are devices that are capable of wireless communications, excluding servers and network elements.
Some existing mobile network architectures will need to be modified to better support such large numbers of peer devices. For example, the existing 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) mobile communication network architecture is designed to support primarily client-server communications. This client-server communication model is used to support both human data communications and M2M communications. However, the client-server model is not optimized to support communications that don't involve a remote server, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) communications.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.